Home prices up 10% in Nanaimo, sales double across Island
April 1, 2010 – Home prices up 10% in Nanaimo, sales double across Island
Real estate prices rose 10% in Nanaimo and sales doubled across much of the Island in March.
A surge in sales is likely to continue for the short term at least, as buyers rush to beat rising interest rates.
Banks reacted quickly to a Bank of Canada interest rate hike this week and “it is critical that buyers get pre-approved for their mortgage,” said Jim Stewart, Vancouver Island Real Estate Board president-elect.
In Nanaimo the average sale price hit $369,000 last month. In the VIREB region, stretching from the Malahat north it was $347,000, up 9% from $317,000 a year ago.
Sales numbers resumed a trend seen over the past few months of being closer to seasonal norms last month, with 119 units sold in Nanaimo in March 2010, a 47% increase from the 81 in the same month last year.
Region-wide, the number of sales doubled to 420 from 261 last year, when the market was still recovering from widespread market uncertainty following the global meltdown of 2008 and the resulting collapse of the U.S. housing market.